exactly!
Exactly, and this situation provided the motivation for me finally to do so. It was allot of work, but I now have some more efficiency and reserve. I do find that other paddlers don’t always realize just how powerful the wind is and like you say, necessity to paddle hard in order to make it back.
I guess we all learn most often when whacked over the head first.
Paddle A Lot…
expecially in progressively challenging conditions. Pick a route that has bail outs. You can only figure out what you can handle by doing it.
What’s too much, 15, 20, 25, 30 knots…? It’s all guess work unless you have been out there and nearing your limit to know what you can take on and for how long.
My 25 knots limit (after which is too much work for me in a head wind) can be starting point of someone else’s fun. Fun as heck though when going one way downwind and downwave and I don’t have to come back against it.
sing
those who profit from prior experience
sing, right on man. We take folks out, let them experience it with bail outs. Those who learn from it, my trust in them as fellow pod paddlers increases. Those who for whatever reasons cannot or will not learn from it, and who require others to take care of them in those conditions, I don’t head out with. Sounds kind of fierce, but hey we don’t get paid for this stuff, and it is supposed to be fun too.
Wind & weather
In any-type of boat or plane, where your generally looking one direction . I do a 360 to look back behind me / check the wind speed ( going into it). We all get F/D& Happy heading downwind. but ,Knowing if its a 30 minute squall or 3 day blow comes with experience on the water.
In the event of a unforeseen…
– Last Updated: Apr-18-06 2:52 PM EST –
meteorological event, say, you were out of range of a VHF receiver, easy to do in places I've paddled, I look for the following, not necessarily in order. They are:
Have a sense of weather trends of past few days; match weather observations to last known forecast; Use my role as navigator to know the course from the chart or past experience and anticipate acceleration of conditions from land or sea features; Monitor sea state; Watch the direction of cloud movement, formation, type; Monitor wrist watch barometer; (Make sure wrist watch barometer is set every morning at known elevation); Employ common sense, ie, don't linger in places long when winds are known to develop reliably in certain times; Employ common sense to the timing of paddles at risk by wind; Keep an eye on mates and request group cohesion to minimize fallback and assist distances (it gets pretty lonely for many people battling conditions); Use correcting strokes/edging at peak of waves, propulsion in troughs; Periods needing to rest keep paddles stroking in water but at lighter cadence; shoot for closest piece of land, then beat across wind using land features as a shield; Keep tow line in state of readiness; Back home stay in reasonable paddling shape; _____________(fill in the blank for any omissions.)(Edited )Oh ya, set a point of no pass, if conditions appear to develop and group reserves are not easily able to overcome.
Augustus Dogmaticus
MMVI
I believe ya, but…
– Last Updated: Apr-18-06 8:03 PM EST –
To ABC...I'd have to say the skeg shouldn't have been a hinderance. Leaning or knee lifts turn a boat just fine. Another tip is to shift your grip on the paddle more to the opposite side ya want to turn towards giving leverage and a sweeping action as ya continue to paddle. Funny, but I don't think I've seen that tip mentioned on this site. Just another paddling trick learned through experience.
McCready Speed
Glider pilots spend a lot of time worrying about the “McCready Speed”.
The concept (figured out by a very smart guy named McCready) is that there is an optimum speed to fly that depends on the strength of the wind, and the available potential energy.
There is a whole lot of calculus involved in figuring this out, and I’m really not up to it anymore. However, I am sure that there is an analogous concept for paddling into a headwind. There must be an optimum speed to paddle. Go to slow and you don’t make sufficient headway. Go to fast and you expend your energy too quickly.
With gliders it is better to err on the side of going to fast.
LOVE paddling in the wind/waves
I ALWAYS check wind forcasts before I go out (especially on the Chesapeake bay.) Big open water can be much more windy than the surrounding land. I usually plan my paddles into the wind so that I have a nice easy surf back home. Sometimes the return trip downwind can take 1/3 the time it took to cover the same distance into the wind.
If you find yourself fighting the wind unexpectedly, you will quickly run low on energy. VERY important to have ‘fast energy’ and water within reach while on the water. I keep “Honey Stingers” in the pfd pocket and a water bottle on deck.
Once you’ve been stuck on the water with no place to land, tired, out of energy and bladder ready to explode, you will learn how to eat/drink/pee on the water.
Speed as a safety technique
Sometimes in stiff and off-shore winds the ability to paddle fast and efficiently become a safety technique. It is my contention that anyone that ventures offshore in dicey conditions should train for speed and endurance or risk an event they will not soon forget. I am no racer but train as one each spring, just to get ready to paddle in the conditions I prefer.
There is much to learn and much to manage when verturing off-shore in such conditions. Management of energy reserves both you own and those of you mates becomes a big part of the equation.Knowing your limits and theirs is equally important when you want to play at the edge. Always having a fall-back strategy like being ready to spend the night on a small island if neccessary. Lastly, for the East-Coast, proficiency in Portugese as a stategy of last resort is also a good thing.
Anchors as a safety technique
Kayak anglers often carry anchors. I’ve found them very useful for resting while caught out in big winds. Otherwise you can lose 60 minutes of progress in 10 minutes of being blown backwards while resting.